Wii Fit
Wii Fit is the first game in the ''Wii Fit'' video games seies, developed by Nintendo for the Wii, and designed by Hiroshi Matsunaga. It is an exercise game consisting of activities using the Wii Balance Board peripheral. The game is perhaps Nintendo's most successful video game of all time, generating a revenue of $1.26 billion. It had a follow-up, Wii Fit Plus, released in 2009, as well as another for the Wii U, titled Wii Fit U, released in 2014. The main location of the game is the Wii Fit Island, which was renamed to Wuhu Island in Wii Sports Resort. Release dates *'Japan:' December 1, 2007 *'Europe:' April 25, 2008 *'Australia:' May 8, 2008 *'North America:' May 21, 2008 Gameplay ]] Wii Fit requires the use of the Wii Balance Board, a platform peripheral that the player stands upon during play. The Wii Balance Board is capable of measuring a person's weight, but is also able to detect the person's center of balance, a feature heavily utilized in the game. Wii Fit contains more than 40 activities designed to engage the player in physical exercise, which consist of yoga poses, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. Most activities generally focus on maintaining center of balance and improving posture. Players register and play in Wii Fit via a user profile, assigned with the player's date of birth, height, and Mii character, that keeps track of the player's progress. Physical activities done outside of Wii Fit can be also be logged into the profile. Wii Fit allows up to eight different profiles to be registered. Activities Yoga and stengh training :Read more: Yoga and stengh training The yoga and strength training activities in Wii Fit provide the player with an on-screen personal trainer, who offers direction and evaluation. While standing or otherwise leaning on the Wii Balance Board, the player is instructed to perform the activity by precisely imitating the trainer's actions. In yoga, the player holds a particular pose or series of poses for a duration of time; while in strength training the player performs a set number of repetitions of the exercise selected. During these sessions, the player is shown a visual indication of his or her Center of Balance, represented as a red dot. The trainer advises the player to maintain the Center of Balance throughout the activity, requesting that it not move outside a particular threshold (usually indicated as a yellow circle). When the activity ends, the player is scored based on how well the player kept his or her balance during the session: points are deducted if the player's body haphazardly swayed or shook at any point. There are 30 yoga and strength training activities included in Wii Fit. Aerobics and balance games :Read more: Aerobics and balance games The other two major categories in Wii Fit, Aerobics and Balance Games, consist of 18 minigame activities that feature Miis as playable characters. Aerobics focus on activities that require more vigorous movement, and are divided into three distinct types: hula hooping, step aerobics, and jogging. In Hula Hoop, the player twirls his or her hips in order to spin a series of hoops, and is scored on the number of spins achieved within a period of time. Step aerobics (simply referred to as "Step" in-game) focus on stepping on and off the Wii Balance Board in a rhythmic fashion. In jogging, which does not use the Wii Balance Board, the player runs in place while keeping the connected Wii Remote in his or her pocket, which acts as a pseudo-pedometer. The game provides variations of step aerobics and jogging (called "Free Step" and "Free Run" respectively) where the user may exercise at his or her own pace and does not require viewing the game screen; the player is able to watch television or something similar while performing the exercise. Balance Games consist of nine activities that focus on directly controlling the game using the player's Center of Balance. "Soccer Heading," for example, focuses on leaning left or right to control the player's Mii in order to head incoming soccer balls. Another, "Table Tilt," focuses on directing balls into holes by shifting the player's balance to tilt the platform they rest on. Activities based on slalom skiing, snowboarding, and tightrope walking are also available, as well as a Zazen-based game (called "Lotus Focus") in which the player sits on the Wii Balance Board and remains motionless for a period of time. Body test Players may undergo "Body Tests," in which the player's body mass index is calculated and balance control is tested. Each Body Test determines and updates the player's "Wii Fit Age", which loosely suggests the player's physical strength in relation to his or her true age. A standalone application, called "Wii Fit Channel," may be installed to the Wii Menu in order for players to perform Body Tests without needing to load the Wii Fit game disc.http://gonintendo.com/?p=21101#more-21101 Reception Wii Fit was well received by video game critics. It currently holds an 81.18% score on , aggregated from the scores of 57 media outlets,http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/942009.asp and got an average score of 81 on .http://www.mobygames.com/game/wii/wii-fit While the playful balance and aerobics minigames have generally been praised as simple fun, criticism for the game is aimed at its limitations in offering a serious workout regime.http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1779/Wii_Fit.html In 's review, one such limitation was attributed to the lack of structure the game imposes on the player, stating that while having "complete freedom to choose what you want to do, you might find yourself cheating, despite your best intentions." also noted that the brief activities are separated by menus, making it difficult for one to keep up a constant heart rate, with criticizing a serious limitation: "as a stand-alone fitness trainer it suffers greatly by the inability to assemble a full, unbroken workout without the horrible 'fitness interruptus' necessitated by bothersome menu navigation and obtrusive Wii Remote usage." Some have also pointed out a lack of Nintendo's usual charm in game design,http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id specifically in the yoga and strength training exercises which take place in a muted setting that one critic referred to as "the world's most lifeless, depressing gym." Despite these limitations, the game's friendly front-end and amount of activities are cited as appealing features to those who are perhaps seeking an introduction to daily exercise. In a review on , Wii Fit was said to create "an environment in which working out is less daunting and as a result enjoyable – fun, even." http://wii.ign.com/articles/875/875214p1.html Gallery WiiFit1-Weight.jpg Wii-fit 5 lg.jpg Wii-fit-20080418094527411-000.jpg Wiifitmaintain.jpg Trivia *Wii Fit is currently the third best selling console game in history (among games not packaged with a console) with 22.67 million copies sold as of March 2012.http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/software/wii.html See aslo *Wii Fit Plus *Wii Fit U References Category:Nintendo Category:Video Games Category:Wii Fit (series)